District posts modest gains on state report card; leaders point to growth strategies

West Allis-West Milwaukee School District Superintendent Dr. Robinson told the school board on Nov. 25 that the districtincreased 4.4 points on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) report card and remains rated "meets expectations." "As a district, we increased 4.4 points in 1 year and remained rated as meets expectations," Dr. Robinson said during a workshop presentation on the DPI report card results.

The board heard a data summary from district staff and leadership coaches that placed the year-to-year gains mainly in the report cardgrowth metric, which the presenters said carries the greater weight for accountability in districts with high rates of economically disadvantaged students. "Growth is what counts for 44.1% of our overall score," district data lead Corey Sat told the board, adding that achievement accounted for 5.9% of the overall score this year.

Why it matters: DPI revised assessment cut scores this school year after updates to the Wisconsin academic standards, which affected achievement percentages statewide. The districtofficials warned that the changes make simple year-to-year achievement comparisons harder, but they said the growth improvements are not an artifact of the cut-score change because growth uses a different calculation.

Key facts and findings presented - The district rose 4.4 points and remained at the DPI category "meets expectations." Dr. Robinson said 12 of 15 schools met or exceeded expectations, up from 8 last year. - The district exceeded state average growth in English language arts (ELA) and moved 13 of 15 demographic subgroups to at least one year of expected growth in ELA, presenters said. - Math achievement lagged: only 2 of 15 subgroups met the one-year-growth benchmark in math, although most math subgroups did show improvement compared with last year. - Target-group outcomes (students in the bottom quartile) improved in growth, chronic absenteeism and graduation-rate measures, staff said.

District context and next steps Dr. Robinson and district coaches outlined actions already under way: continued instructional rounds, a district "hundred-day" focus on high-impact instructional strategies, expanded professional learning community work, refining multi-level supports and progress monitoring, and increased attention to dual-enrollment and career pathway options for high school students.

Dr. Robinson urged the board to consider expanding dual-enrollment and career-readiness options, saying the district is pursuing partnerships with MATC and other postsecondary providers and exploring use of Perkins funds to offset program costs.

Board discussion Board members pressed for clarity about parent and community engagement in next steps, links between early literacy and later math performance, and the alignment between FastBridge progress-monitoring data and DPI outcomes. Staff said they see a strong correlation between FastBridge and state assessments and that quarterly reviews of supports and fidelity checks are now part of the districtcontinuous-improvement cycle.

What the report does not say Staff cautioned that some DPI measures use lagging data and that the statemade a one-year adjustment to achievement scoring tied to the updated Forward Exam; the district said the growth measures driving much of the improvement are not affected by that adjustment.

Looking ahead District leaders said they will bring more concrete plans to the board in the coming months on math curriculum adoption at the secondary level, formalized career-pathway definitions (what the district calls "what a West Allis-West Milwaukee graduate looks like") and proposals for strengthening family engagement to support instruction at home.